Persona Ricerca
by roundarosie
Summary: Maria watches her fellow dragons and envies their conviction. When the Xiaolin Warriors are sent to search for Shen Gong Wu, she is greeted with an unusual proposistion by none other than Jack Spicer.
1. Prologue

**peachpit:** I am a new fan of Xiaolin Showdown, so please forgive me if I get anything wrong with the storyline. My fan character, Maria Lentini, is the Dragon of Metal. She is very shy, very timid, and not very strong at all...sorry if she seems boring, but I wrote this mostly for my own ammusment. Thanks.

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Even now I canrecall my first day of being a Xiaolin Apprentice as if it were yesterday. After having won the battle with the evil boy genius I had been introduced to as Jack Spicer, I had hesitantly accepted the position of becoming part of the team. I myself was less than enthusiastic, for I found the sort of work that came with the responsibilities were not exactly my "cup of tea". However, the others seemed slightly more fervent on the idea, that all my doubts slowly vanished. 

I had been introduced to my new teacher, a man they called Master Fung, as soon as we had arrived to the Xiaolin Temple later that day. I had been urged by Omi to make haste with getting my belongings, and I would have hated to have them all wait on my expense. The ride to the Temple was…very hard to explain. But, to put it simply,I had never been so terrified in my entire life. I found myself clinging, petrified, to our scaly transportation for dear life the entire way.

Master Fung greeted me most kindly, and I couldn't help but sense an aura of peace around him. As nervous as I was, I tried not to forget my manners and greeted him with a quivering "how-do-you-do" and a handshake. He had smiled and bowed in a traditional Chinese-type-manner.

To my luck, I was escorted around the Temple grounds by none other than Omi, who had seemed honored to be given such a simple task. He instructed me to follow and began pointing out the Temple grounds in a rather matter-of-fact approach. I just smiled slightly and nodded whenever he turned his large yellow head around to see if I was still listening.

All in all, the Temple itself was, to put lightly, amazing. I couldn't help but find myself marveling at the architectural design rather than the simpler purposes of the room Omi had been pointing out. Reading about historical Chinese Temples was already a hobby of mine, as was reading about _anything_ historical, but seeing something this grand in person was a real treat for me.

Which is when I reminded myself that this place would, indeed, be my home from now on. Omi told me where my living quarters would be, and I must say, I was less than enthusiastic on the living space provided. Over a short time, however, I grew to overlook the small space and thought of it to be rather cozy. There was just enough room to put up shelves for all my favorite reading material, and that was enough for me.

By the time I had been shown to my sleeping quarters, it was beginning to grow late. I was instructed to get some sleep and unpack in the morning. I nodded before making my way to the restroom. I had slipped on a large T-shirt and some flannel pants, brushed my teeth, and combed out my short hair before stepping barefooted on the cold wooden hallway floor.

It was dark, and that being one of my many childish phobias, I slipped silently but quickly as I could to my sleeping accommodations. The others were already assumed to be sleeping, so I awkwardly climbed into my futon. Plopping my head onto my pillow, I lied there for what seemed like hours. It was my first night in this place, my first night away from my home.

My first night of my new life was the loneliest one I had ever had.

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**peachpit:** This 'tis but the prologue. Stay tuned for more of my idiocy. Reviews are nice... 


	2. Light of Meshii

**peachpit:** I honestly did not think I would get reviews...heh. Go fig. Thanks everyone! Oh, and in this story, please take note that the Light of Meshii and Ston of the Sixth Sence are completely fictional Shen Gong Wu I made for mearly plot device; so don't go thinking they're real. Oh, and disclaimer, I do not own Xiaolin Showdown.

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It had been a six days since I first came to the temple, and I must be honest when I say I felt out of place. The chores weren't the problem--on the contrary, I was used to doing that sort of work and had no trouble whatsoever. It was the training. And the training. And still, the excessive training.

I remember my first day of real training, I had to sit out half the time and do nothing but admire the others. I couldn't help but feel a spur of envy in the back of my mind as I saw how fluently and with ease they preformed their training exorcizes. It was enough to make my face flush with embarrassment as I took note of my own, awkward and maladroit efforts.

However, to make myself seem less useless, I offered assistance o the others for anything they might need during training; such as a glass of water or whatnot. It wasn't much for me to do, but it did keep me moving.

On a particularly hot day, I was just returning with a tall cold glass of lemonade I had been requested to retrieve by Raimundo. I had walked in on Dojo explaining to everyone the location of a newly activated Shen Gong Wu, which had been the first since I had been there. I figured the other dragons would be going and I would be instructed to sit this one out, but to my surprise they had expected me to tag along.

I kept my eyes shut tight the entire ride there.

When we landed, the first thing I noticed was the thick blanket of snow that covered the land. I zipped my hoodie up all the way as I stepped off of Dojo; he returned to his normal size.

Before we had left, Master Fung had informed us on the details about this particular Shen Gong Wu. It was a peculiar piece known as the Light of Meshii. The scroll he had shown us told of it's powers; When activated, the Wu would emit a large, blinding light that would leave all but the user sightless for as long as it was activated. This was bad for me, because I had never heard of it before.

We were instructed to split up to cover more ground. Luckily for me, I had Dojo to accompany me on my search. However, I must say it would have been more enjoyable if he hadn't been shivering so violently on my shoulder and complaining about the cold.

"I sh-sh-should have b-brought a scarf or s-something!"

A part of me felt bad for having nothing to offer him to warm up.

"You could…um…sit in my jacket pocket….or something…" I suggested quietly. He thanked me by quickly taking me up on the offer. Fortunately, the jacket had belong to my father and the pockets were more than large enough to keep Dojo comfortably. I just hoped he didn't fall asleep, I needed him to help keep an eye out for the Shen Gong Wu.

Brushing my hair out of my eyes (only to have it fall back in place, I'm afraid), I scanned the snowy area for any signs of the Wu. Seeing nothing, I sighed and walked determinedly through a tree-filled area.

Although the sun was high, it was still freezing. I wanted to find what I was looking for as fast as I could so I could get back to the temple. Perhaps I would make some hot chocolate for everyone when we got back, I haven't had that in a long while…

Just when I had begun to let my mind wander, I spotted a small glint of something up ahead. I started towards it.

Brushing the snow off the top, I gingerly picked up what looked like a golden dragonfly hairpin with a large Opal-colored stone in the center.

"The Light of Meshii!" I heard Dojo proclaim excitedly.

"…really?" I asked quietly. I didn't need to look, but I felt him raise an eyebrow at me.

"Of course 'really'. What else do you think it is?"

"Nothing…I just didn't think…it would be that…easy." I stated. Something didn't seem right, I couldn't place my finger on it.

"Well maybe we're just having a lucky day." The dragon said as he crawled out of my pocket and placed himself on my shoulder. "Now let's get out of here, I could go for some hot chocolate."

Nodding, I turned around and began walking again. As I walked, I couldn't help but begin feeling we were going downhill. I shrugged it off and continued on. Just when I had begun feeling as if I had been thrown a break, something horrible happened.

I hadn't seen the rock buried in the snow, but sure enough my foot slammed right into it and I was sent flying forward to be greeted by a mouthful of snow. Dojo flew off my shoulder and landed right in front of me, somehow I could tell I had this coming. I slowly got up and brushed myself off. I was mostly okay, but I had a sharp pain in my ankle for a few moments. I sucked in air through my teeth as I attempted to stand on it.

"You okay, Dojo?" I asked as I picked him up.

"Yeah, I think I'm…"He paused and began spinning his head around frantically.

"What is it, Dojo?" I asked as he jumped out of my hands and began looking frenetically on the snow around us.

"The Shen Gong Wu….Where'd it go!" He cried.

I looked at my empty hand.

_Darn it! I must have dropped it when I tripped!_

I found myself on my hands and knees, searching with Dojo through the snow. It was only until I saw a glint out of the corner of my eye did I jump up and run to a bush to reach for the Light of Meshii. It was planted on the other side of the bush, out of my reach. I grazed the edge with my fingers, but only managed to push it farther away. I was about to reach again when I heard Dojo cry,

"_Lookout, Maria_!"

I lifted my head up and around to see Dojo waving his arms frantically for me to go over there. A second later I felt the ground around me shake violently and begin to cave. Hysterically, I turned around and jumped to the snowy land beside my dragon companion just as the earth I had been standing on caved into an unknown underground cavern.

I could only lie there in the snow, catching my breath as I saw the Shen Gong Wu go with it.

A moment had passed, and I diffidently crawled over to the edge of where the earth had caved in. Peeking my head over, I saw mostly darkness, but from what I could make out, there was wooden frames built through several caves beneath.

"A mine," I whispered.

Dojo slithered up to me and looked down.

"AYE-YAI-YAI! The Shen Gong Wu fell down into _that_?" He exclaimed. I nodded sadly.

And overwhelming sense of defeat flooded my once high spirits as I looked down into that seemingly bottomless pit. As we sat there, thinking on what to do, I felt a sting of pain run along my leg. I was determined not to mention it, but Dojo must have seen it in my face when he offered to fly off and find the others.

I declined stupidly, I was tired of being useless. But unfortunately, that wasn't the only stupid decision I made that day.

"Well, well, well…who do we have here?"

My head shot up, as did Dojo's.

Jack Spicer looked down on us from three feet in the air, grinning.

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**peachpit:** Slow story, I know. Sorry about that, guys. Please forgive me. And if my character comes across to you as "Mary-Suish", please help by C+Cing her, not flaming. Thanks.


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